Norges Bank Takes $59.95 Million Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,714,762 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,948,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,880,000 after buying an additional 1,416,781 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,922,000 after acquiring an additional 183,814 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,791,000 after acquiring an additional 38,420 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company's stock worth $53,376,000 after purchasing an additional 45,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 36,084 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total transaction of $291,024.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,539,706.85. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.70.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS stock traded down $2.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $25.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,477,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,485,870. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.81 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $31.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.94. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.39 and a beta of 0.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.